I’m a stresser. It’s what I do. It’s probably why I already have SO many gray hairs at the age of 28. Seriously, I have a lot. Maybe writing it all out will help me wrap my brain around it better and allow me to let go of a little bit of the stress. Maybe it’ll magically make those gray hairs disappear. No? Drat.

I’ve been stressing a lot about miss Rilyn lately. Things like her still not sleeping through the night, her needing to nurse before falling asleep, and her still not saying “mama”. She’ll say “dada” all day long, and also says “night night”, “uh oh”, and “that”. But no “mama”. Stubborn. Wonder where she gets that from.

Mainly, though, I’m stressing about the fact that this child is still refusing to drink out of a sippy cup! She’ll drink water here and there, but when I put breast milk, rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk in the cup, she’ll take a drink and spit it out, or take one drink and push the cup away refusing to take another sip. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ll put 3 ounces of “milk” in a sippy cup in the morning, and there will be JUST under 3 ounces a the end of the day. I’ve tried several different types of sippy cups, including straws, and regular cups without a lid. Nothing. C’mon kid! You’re killing me here! I’m not sure she’ll ever be a child that will drink 4-5 ounces in one sitting.

When Rilyn hit 8 months, I moved my nursing goal to 12 months with the plan to start weaning her after that. After dealing with supply issues while Lakyn was a baby (that only allowed me to exclusively nurse her until she was 4 months old), I’m extremely happy and grateful that I’m still nursing Rilyn at 13 months, but in all honesty, I’m ready to wean her.

When she turned one I decided that I’d like to have her weaned by Thanksgiving so that I could finally partake in all the dairy-laden yummies that the holiday is made up of. So, we set out to start weaning. I started offering R a cup of coconut milk (the so delicious brand of unsweetened coconut milk does not in fact, taste like coconut milk. In my opinion, it’s the most neutral dairy free milk substitute. It’s also the milk that Rilyn has taken to the best. Obviously, the word “best” is used loosely here) with all of her meals and at various times throughout the day. All to no avail. During this same week I also cut out one of her feedings to get the weaning process started. She did pretty well with it, but she never did any better with the cup of milk and she’s also not the best eater. Some days she’ll eat table food really well, but mostly she just picks and nibbles at it. I can’t figure her out. Except that she loves pasta. Any time I give her pasta she downs it. During this same week we had her 12 month check up with her doctor who voiced her concern about her weight. She was at the 50th% for weight around 6 months, but is now measuring at the 14th%. The doctor said we’d see what she’s measuring when we go back in (in two more months) and talk more about a plan of action, if it’s needed, then.

Well, that doesn’t sit well with a momma, now does it?

After lots of going back in forth in my own brain, and talking it out with Brandon, I’ve decided that I just cannot in good conscious wean Rilyn right now. I need to put my own selfish desire of FINALLY being able to get off this diet I’ve been on for the past 7 months aside and do what’s best for my child. I keep telling myself that it’s just one year where I’ll miss out on Thanksgiving food. Surely, I can handle that. I just don’t feel right about taking her best source of nutrition away (breast milk) when she’s not eating table foods well, and not drinking a milk substitute, not even breast milk, from a cup. So, I’ll continue nursing her hoping that it will help with her weight issues. I’ll keep giving her sippy cups as well, and I’ll continue wishing and praying that she’ll miraculously start drinking “milk” out of those cups.

Will you please do the same for me? Also, if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears over here!

**I should note that these events took place a few weeks ago and I’ve continued with the cup at every meal and throughout the day. The results haven’t changed.

One Response to “Stressing”

I’m also a total stresser. And I stressed about the same thing with Liam (although his weight wasn’t an issue). Liam still won’t really drink any milk from a cup at 17 months (He seemed to like coconut milk at first but now only takes a sip. I still pour some in a sippy cup every day like he’s going to drink it.) I really wanted him to drink milk from a sippy cup before I started weaning him but he’d only drink water out of the sippy cup. I expressed my concern to his ped who said that as long as he was getting 12 ounces of dairy (or dairy substitute), he was fine. I give him whole milk greek yogurt at every meal and cheese at snack time (can Rilyn have yogurt or goat cheese?) in hopes he’s getting enough dairy. We’ve been nursing once a day until this week. At this point I don’t think he’s really getting more than an ounce or two anyway. Liam also didn’t get really interested in eating solid foods until I started weaning him. He was getting too many calories from breastmilk so he wasn’t that hungry at mealtime.

Okay, sorry for all the rambling. Um, you could try mixing “milk” in with other foods Rilyn eats (maybe a berry smoothie or with oatmeal.)

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Yep, that's the Hubs and me. He's a good, good man, my best friend, and I love him with every ounce of my being. There's no one else I'd want to experience life's adventures with. Better believe it!

Our sweet, so very smart, and beautiful Lakyn Kay. This little sunshine is the light of our world. She keeps us on our toes, runs the house, and gives the BEST hugs and kisses. Our lives would be nothing without her.